Words of Encouragement

Dec 28, 2012

Did you ever feel like you might be a little different than those around you. Somehow you just didn't fit in? That hits me from time to time. When I was taking photos of these Moon jellyfish along comes this bad little jellyfish, whose name I do not know, just scooting along like it knew where it was heading. But it was a bit of a loner in that there was only one that I saw in this patch of solid Moon jellyfish. Sometimes there is something special about a one of a kind. It could be a leader, a thinker, a doer, or all three blended into one. That's what brought my attention to this critter here and made me think about this quote that I ran across
by Storm Jameson about being different.

"I believe that only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in the present. Most of us spend 59 minutes of an hour living in the past, with regret for lost joys, or shame for things badly done (both utterly useless and weakening) or in a future which we either long for or dread. Yet the past is gone beyond prayer, and every minute you spend in the vain effort to anticipate the future is a moment lost. There is only one world, the world pressing against you at this minute. There is only one minute in which you are alive, this minute-here and now. The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle. Which is exactly what it is-a miracle and unrepeatable."

Maybe you are that one in a thousand. Maybe you are swimming against the flow in unchartered waters. I am sure it's hard to be a one in a thousand and it can be lonely place to be but when it hits you and all comes together it is truly a gift. And a gift to be shared with others. Certainly the gift of this quote. Now all of you who read this now know that all we truly have is this special minute that will be gone in sixty seconds. I am going to try and remember this. So easy to read and say, well of course that's true, but how many of us will take it to heart. I am reminded of waking up during the middle of the night and my mind starts running. I stay awake for longer than I want and what can you really accomplish by running those things around in your head for hours on end. The answer is nothing. For that precious minute you ought to be sleeping and recharging. Easy to say but hard to do.

On another note, if you are a Facebook fan and like the R. E. Lee Photography page, then you are aware that Jerra and I spent the last two weeks of July in Cuba. The opportunity came up and Cuba has been calling my name for some time now so we decided to jump on it. It was a trip of a lifetime. When something keeps calling your name you better act on it. We found Cuba to be filled with incredibly warm people who seemed to be very happy about life. As you might imagine we had our cameras with us and the photographic opportunities were endless. In the coming months we will be putting together a presentation to showcase what we found as we meandered through the streets of Santiago de Cuba for Carnival and Havana. It will be sometime after the first of the year for the Cuba 2012presentation. We will keep you posted. Below is just a small taste of what we saw. These little carts were all over the place with these very loud metal rollers that they used to move things. The ingenuity of man can be seen all over the place in Cuba. You make do with what you have and by golly somehow they figure it out. Not under the best of circumstances but a workable solution. More to come...if you want to see more, please go to R. E. Lee Photography and like us on Facebook.